Ice Crystal
by 10IceDragon
Summary: Toshiro and Rangiku's relationship strengthens, so does Toshiro's powers, and so does his enemies. He has to protect Rangiku, but she is sworn to protect him. How can they still love eachother while death is possibly the outcome of love? ON HIATUS! Sorry!
1. Just the beginning

**_Ice Crystal_**

_ 1. Just the beginning_

x takes place after Toshiro's battle with Harribel x

After his battle with Harribel, every other espada had fled along with Aizen. Toshiro Hitsugaya and the group were back in the Urahara shop, discussing about what to do when Aizen returns.

"That damn bastard just thinks we're just his toy doesn't he?!" Ichigo slammed his fist onto the table, which made everyone stunned.

"Just be glad that no one got seriously injured. That's all that matters right?" Rukia knew how he felt, and she was getting a little angry too, but she also knew that they couldn't do anything about it.

Ichigo mumbled under his breath while drinking some of his tea.

"Oh cheer up guys!" Keisuke instantly exclaimed while nudging Ichigo in the arm with his elbow, making him spit his tea all over the table. "Oops"

He was pissed now.

"I've had it! You guys may think different, but I'm going to that bastard and you can't do anything abou-"

Toshiro slammed against Ichigo's top, causing him to sit back down and hold his swelling head.

"I'm gonna get some rest, you guys should too." Toshiro yawned while heading to his current room. For someone who recently barely survived a battle, he was acting like nothing happened.

"Good night!" Rangiku happily said while blushing without realizing it. Rangiku Matsumoto was Toshiro's lieutenant of the 10th squad captain, Toshiro. Slowly after time, she started falling for her captain. She couldn't tell him, mainly because she knew that he didn't like her back. If someone got a hold of her secret, she would be damned forever. She fell in love with those exquisite turquoise eyes, and his beautiful handsome face. He was powerful and young, but did not notice Rangiku at all. Ever since she entered the soul society, every guy had asked her out. Well, all but Toshiro. Of course she rejected all the other guys, but she wondered why Toshiro didn't. But then again, that was also another thing she liked about him. He treated her like an actual person and not a doll to just play around with. Then again, like hell she would tell Toshiro any of that.

But she couldn't just sit there forever, she had to tell him.

Rangiku trailed to Toshiro's room slowly.

"Whaddya doing?" Ichigo asked while still rubbing his head.

"I…have something to say to Toshiro, that's all," She entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"Matsumoto! What the hell are you doing?" Toshiro yelled, making her jump. He was sitting on his bed, looking at his phone (a.k.a hollow tracker).

Rangiku blushed and looked down. She went onto the bed and sat in front of him. "I need some advice,"

"What?"

"Um, well, I've been planning to do something, but haven't brought myself to actually do it. What should I do?"  
"Well, as long as it doesn't hurt you in any way, go for it, right?"

She stared into those beautiful blue eyes.

"You're r-right, I s-should."

Toshiro looked back down to his phone. That is, until he dropped it. He was frozen, stunned, only to see Rangiku's lips pressed onto his. He didn't know what was going on in the world. Rangiku pulled away, only to realize what she had done.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! You can fire me! I'm sorry, I shouldn't of done th-"

This time, Toshiro's lips were on her, and her heart was beating so fast, that she thought it was going to explode, but she didn't care about that, all he cared about was the cool lips on hers. She closed her eyes, and enjoyed this moment. She knew that she was going to finally live a happy life. And this was just the beginning.


	2. Hyourinmaru

**_2. Hyourinmaru_**

After the kiss, Rangiku and Toshiro had been acting strangely, and that, everyone noticed.

"Hey, where's Toshiro? Don't tell me he's still in bed! That lazy bastard..." Ichigo blabbed his mouth off.

"Ha! Look who's talking. Oh yeah, the one who just barely dragged himself out of bed. You're one heck of a strawberry!" Renji, also blabbing his mouth off.

"STRAWBERRY?!" His face turned red at that insult. Then, what caused a huge fight between them was the next word. "PINEAPPLE HEAD!"

"Why must I be friends with these people…" Rukia sighed into drinking her tea. "Hey Rangiku, can you go get Captain Hitsugaya before strawberry and pineapple head rip each other's body into pieces?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" They both synchronized.

Rangiku abruptly jumped slightly and blushed when she heard his name. "S-s-sure" She walked to his room, still blushing as bright as a tomato.

"Captain?" She peeped through the crack in the door. She saw him sitting at the edge of his bed, staring through his window at the sunrise. "Uh…" Her face blushed even more. "Ichigo and the others are waiting outside for you,"

"Rangiku, is this how it's going to be like now?"

She knew he was talking about their relationship. "Well, hopefully." She smiled while walking closer to him.

He turned his head, only to be kissed again by Rangiku. They both released from it and smiled. After Rangiku saw those rare smiles from him, her blushing face came back. "Oh right! You should uh go out there again. Ichigo and Renji are going at it again!"

He walked out, only to see them both ripping at each other's hair. He took his zanpaktou and walked next to them both.

"HEY!" Renji and Ichigo both screamed out after Toshiro jammed the hilt of Hyourinmaru onto their heads.

"You gave me another swelling! You son of a b-"

Toshiro hit him again, and strawberry was once again on the floor.

"You guys are a bunch of idiots, you know that?" Toshiro, looking pretty awesome right now, walked outside of the shop.

"Where are you going?" Rangiku asked.

"I'm just gonna get some fresh air, don't worry about me." He stepped outside. His bare feet stepped onto the grass outside of the shop. It was cool outside, but that didn't affect him. After all, his zanpaktou was an ice dragon. Speaking of which, it was feeling strange right now. Toshiro unsheathed his sword, only to see it glowing bright blue. It was releasing more spiritual pressure than usual. It glimmered with ice and the ice dragon released from it. Toshiro was confused, he didn't release him, and yet, he just came out on his own.

"What is it?" He stared into those icy dragon eyes.

Hyourinmaru flew with its grand wings, only for Toshiro to follow, and which he did. Toshiro eventually caught up with it, only to see it stop in front of a cave. He didn't even realize where they were, but he sensed and great power in the cave. He thought twice before entering, while Hyourinmaru sheathed itself back in the sword. Toshiro stared at the cave before finally entering. The inside was tremendous, and was dark, but had enough light from the outside to see one figure standing in front of him. The figure spoke to him, a woman's voice, but mysterious enough to cause Toshiro to stand back. While coming closer, Toshiro saw long blue hair come out from the shadows, and saw the woman's cold lips. It spoke one simple sentence.

_"I've been waiting, Toshiro…"_


	3. Strength

"_I've been waiting, Toshiro…"_

**_3. Strength_**

A woman appeared. She had long, silky blue hair, and pale skin. She had blue eyes, similar to his, and was wearing a long kimono that draped over her shoulders and was held together with a sash that wrapped around her waist. Her spiritual pressure was higher than his, but seemed connected somehow.

"Who are you?" Toshiro placed his hand on his zanpaktou.

"Don't be alarmed, I won't hurt you," A smile appeared upon her face.

Toshiro didn't release his sword from his grip.

The woman sighed. "Let me explain. Don't you remember? I trained you to handle Hyourinmaru when you were younger. I am also a source of your power. We're bonded, Toshiro."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just watch," The woman glowed and more spiritual pressure was sensed. Her arms spread into grand ice wings, and turned in almost like a dragon, but not exactly. A phoenix, it looked like. An ice phoenix. "I am Hyou, wielder of ice, and now servant, of Toshiro Hitsugaya."

Toshiro stared as if the impossible happened. He still didn't exactly trust her, but something in him wanted too, it took over, and Toshiro calmed down and let his hand go of his sword. "Fine, but want do you want with me?"

Hyou transformed back. "I want to show you your true power, and I'm here to help you handle it." She smiled again, while a bright light flashed, causing Toshiro to squint. Once the light disappeared, another small light appeared on his left arm. He looked at it, and there was a dragon shaped engraving into his skin. He felt immense power from it.

"You can now wield Hyourinmaru without having to release it from your zanpaktou." She stated. "Test it out on me, don't worry, I'll be fine,"

Toshiro swung his arm forward while sprinting for her. Hyourinmaru appeared immediately from his arm, while the engraving glowed bright blue. It hit Hyou, but her body absorbed the ice quickly. Toshiro stared in amazement.

"Yep, you can use ice anytime you want now!" she said happily.

"So that's it? You just gave me a new power?" Toshiro was still a little confused about this.

"Well, not exactly. Let me explain some more. Hyourinmaru consists of three certain powers. Sacrifice, stability, and strength. These powers contribute to water, snow, and ice. Harribel, the espada you fought, she had the power of sacrifice, which let her manipulate water. I was not the only one who trained you. They are Rin and Maru. If you see, we make up Hyourinmaru. I am the wielder of ice, so I represent strength. You have to seek out the other two, and use your new powers to your advantage. You will need them someday, but now you have to be patient. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this now."

_"Like hell I would…" _ He thought.

"You just received a relationship with Rangiku, have you not? You may not realize it, but love is the strongest power out there. Before, you never found that power, but now, you discovered the true essence. You have to stay with her, or you'll never know, but that also means that you have to protect her. Protect her with your life."

Toshiro already knew that. Even before, he loved her so much that he would die for her.

"All right, I got it." He said, determined.

"One more thing, never get your hopes up. Aizen is still out there."

….

Toshiro left with immense power within him. He explained everything to Rangiku, making sure that no one else knew just yet. There was more that Hyou didn't explain, but she made sure that he would find out sooner or later. His path to power just started, and would not end until he found out what love really was.


	4. What is Love?

**_4. What is Love?_**

Toshiro and Rangiku still had been keeping their secret from everyone else. The other day, everything had just been dumped onto him. New powers, new goal, he had no idea what to do with all this stress upon his shoulders. Well, at least Rangiku was with him. Today, they had planned to tell the group about them, just not the people in the soul society yet. They both had just sworn to release all their secrets to each other, holding nothing back, but that may just have to be broken soon. Although, not yet.

"We have something to tell you guys!" Rangiku exclaimed while hugging Toshiro's arm. After them officially being together, she acted a lot more confident and happier.

"Does it have anything to do with Aizen?" Ichigo asked, slumped as ever.

"Uh no…"

"How bout a plan against him?"

"No, can I just say wha-"

"He's about to attack us?"

"SHUT UP!" Rukia yelled, causing Ichigo to quiver in fear. To him, when Rukia was mad, it was like a devil had appeared from hell. Every time, he could imagine her with devil ears and a tail.

Rukia calmed back down after seeing everyone else's reactions.

"Um, thanks…But what I was about to say, was that Captain Hitsugaya and I are a couple!" She said with a huge smile on her face. Toshiro blushed.

Nobody was surprised.

"Well not to ruin your huge confession, but we already knew." Renji said, munching on his third bowl of rice.

"Really? You knew this whole time?" Rangiku was now even more confused than usual.

"Well, yeah. We found out from your reactions when you were together." Ichigo sighed.

"There, all done. I'm gonna go now." Toshiro walked outside.

Rangiku was now dumbfounded. She felt like the only one who thought she covered her secret pretty well. (She may not know it, but she's a terrible liar.)

…..

Toshiro was training at the cave with Hyou.

"Toshiro, you need to focus on aiming better. Strength isn't everything."

"I know that!" He slammed against the wall of the cave again. "Hyou, why don't I remember any of this? I mean, I should of, right?"

Hyou sighed. "Not necessarily. Also, Hyou is just my nickname. My full name is Hyoushiori. You don't remember me because when I trained you, it wasn't physical. I trained you in your dreams, but I appeared as a spirit. You may not have recognized me then. All you remember is Hyourinmaru."

"Well, what about you having another form?"

"Oh, that's just my real form. The powers soul reapers contain all are pretty much souls of creatures. Except we wield more power than just regular animals. I have the form of a phoenix. Rin and Maru, also known as Rintari and Marusati, have creature forms too. They take on a leopard and a serpent."

"Why does this all have to be so confusing?"

"It won't be once you actually understand."

"Yeah right, no matter what, I'll never get used to this!"

…

After he returned, he sat on top of the roof of the shop, thinking about what has happened in the past few days. He wondered how he would control his powers, or when new ones would appear. What was this love that Hyou was talking about before? Was is good or bad? He just didn't know what to do.

"Hey, you alright?" Rangiku sat down next to him.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You've been acting tired lately."

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me,"

"Oh, but I do…" She held his chin and turned it, just to lean in for a deep kiss. They both smiled into it. _"Love…" _He thought.

Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought after all….


	5. Dreams

**_5. Dreams_**

_"Toshiro…save me!"_

Toshiro gasped. He opened his beautiful blue eyes, trembling with fear. "It was just a dream," He grabbed his aching head. Toshiro turned his face to the side, looking at Rangiku's calm sleeping face. He sighed. Rangiku had her arms around his waist, smiling as if she was having a good dream unlike his. Toshiro slowly unwrapped her arms from him and slowly got out of bed. He put his clothes on silently, trying not to wake her up. He grabbed his zanpaktou and headed for the door.

Slowly, he walked while following the dirt path on the ground. It eventually led to a tremendous cascading waterfall, shining exquisitely in the moonlight. He sat down on the rocks around the pool of water, staring at the reflection of the pure white moon, rippling in the water. He touched the cool water with his finger, purposely making that one spot freeze into ice before it melted back into water again.

_"Rangiku," _He thought. She was his sun, and the only source of happiness in life. He needed to protect her at all costs, no matter what the situation was. She always had a smile on her face, but not in his dreams. When Toshiro was young, he always thought that dreams were happy, and an example of their most wanted fantasies. That all changed now. To him now, dreams were the things he was most afraid of. Like before, the one he had feared him the most.

_It was dark, no moon in sight. He heard a scream, a familiar one at that. _

_"Rangiku!" Toshiro screamed trying to reach out as if knowing she would just come back. _

_The floor collapsed beneath him, while he tried to crawl out of the darkness. But it didn't work. The black darkness instead covered a face, Rangiku's. He saw her face with fear for the first time. He eyes were shedding tears and Toshiro heard the last sentence that she screamed._

_"Toshiro…save me!" _

He clenched his head again, aching with pain, both physical and emotional. Every night he was afraid to sleep, knowing that another scream would break down his barriers once again. He thought that Rangiku made him stronger, and she did, but she was also his weakness. He just didn't realize it. He just wanted to love her without any distractions.

"Captain?" A voice behind him asked.

"Rangiku? What are you doing up?

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I woke up from a really good dream!" There was her smile again, making Toshiro feel even more miserable. "But when I did, you were gone. I came to look for you!"

"Oh, sorry for making you worry," He looked down at the ground, almost feeling guilty for something he didn't know.

"It's alright!" She chuckled. Rangiku sat down next to him, staring at the waterfall with wondering eyes. "Wow, it's beautiful!"

Toshiro didn't respond. He was too busy feeling depressed and thinking about Rangiku.

"Hm? Captain?" She looked at his expression. She placed her hand on his neck, alerting and making him turn his head. She kissed him deeply, and he kissed her back. But, that only made him feel guiltier.

"You should head back to the shop Rangiku," He released from her lips.

"Huh? But what about you?"

"I'll be fine, just go back."

She did what she was told. An hour had passed, and for the whole time, Toshiro stared at the sky. That is, until now.

Toshiro stood up while grabbing Hyourinmaru. He sensed intense spiritual pressure nearby. No, not just a spiritual pressure, but power. Power that he could have sworn to of recognized. He looked around, but didn't see anything. He didn't know where it was, but knew it was nearby. He could feel it.

"Ah! Shit!" Toshiro bent down, clutching his left arm, causing him to drop Hyourinmaru. It dripped with blood. He saw it running down his arm, wondering who cut him. If it was even possible, that slight moment he was cut, the spiritual pressure rose tremendously.

He concentrated hard. Toshiro picked up his zanpaktou again, looking around.

There.

He turned around, clashing swords with the creature. No, it wasn't a creature. The opponent jumped back, finally exposing his face. Toshiro's eyes widened as he quickly recognized the face. He snorted his name with disgust as his opponent just smiled with hatred.

Aizen.


	6. Time

Aizen.

**_6. Time_**

Toshiro lost control. After what Aizen had done to him and his friends, he didn't want to redeem his justice, he wanted to kill him and make him suffer for what he did. Toshiro charged at him without thinking, but Aizen slashed his skin before Toshiro could reach him. He bent down holding his bleeding shoulder.

"You…bastard…," he gasped for air. "What the hell are you doing here?"

There was no answer. All Toshiro saw was a faint grin across his smug face, before he lost consciousness and saw only black.

….

_Captain…Captain…_ "Captain!"

Toshiro woke with alerting eyes. He saw Rangiku and the rest next to him with eyes of relief. He noticed that he was in bed, wrapped with bandages on his wounds. His body ached of pain, as he clutched his head, only realizing what had just happened.

"Oh thank god you're alright!" Rangiku exclaimed as she lunged her arms forward to give him a hug.

"Rangiku? Dammit, what happened?" He clutched his head again.

Ichigo appeared behind Rangiku. "We found you unconscious next to the waterfall at night; we all thought you were dead until now."

"And thank god for that!" Rangiku squeezed him harder.

"What happened?" Yoruichi asked curiously.

Toshiro sighed as Rangiku released him. "Aizen. He came."

"What?!" Ichigo stood up. "That bastard shows up now? What a piece of shit is he trying to pull now?!"

"Ichigo, calm down." Rukia said. "Toshiro, you should rest, you're still badly hurt."

"No," He got up, slightly struggling to reach for his zanpaktou. "Ichigo's right, we have to stop him, the sooner the better."

"The sooner, not the better!" Renji yelled at him, "We still need a plan to take him down." But by the time he finished his sentence, Toshiro was already gone.

Toshiro ran, not knowing where he was headed too. He was determined to find Aizen, and end him. He searched around for hours, not looking back, not giving up. Time went by, faster and faster, until now.

He stopped. He dropped Hyourinmaru, and clutched his chest.

_"D-Dammit." _ He thought. Something was wrong. His chest hurt immensely. He felt as if a poison was within him, dissolving his body slowly. What was happening, he didn't know. He screamed in pain, as he heard a voice behind him. It was him again. He was back. Suddenly, the pain stopped, and Toshiro immediately took hold of Hyourinmaru and released him, creating an ice dragon charging towards Aizen.

Aizen dodged it perfectly.

"You've gotten stronger, Toshiro," His voiced echoed, making Toshiro angrier.

Toshiro growled in disgust. He focused on his target. "Reign over the frosted heavens," His zanpaktou glowed brightly, giving off a strong icy aura of strength. "Hyourinmaru!" The dragon emerged again, this time stronger.

Aizen dodged again, but not quite as perfect. After the dragon passed him, another aura of ice came slashing through his arm, creating a cut of crimson blood from his pale skin. Aizen's eyes widened, as he struck Toshiro again making his neck bleed the same way.

They both jumped back, glaring at each other with eyes of hatred. This time, Aizen charged at him. Their swords clashed as Toshiro blocked his move. Hyourinmaru glowed brighter, cutting through Aizen's sword, which caused him to stumble back. Aizen was wide open. Toshiro took his chance and charged towards him, his blade, sharper and ready, just waiting to kill him for real.

He was so close, too close, and he saw Aizen smile again. His own eyes widened, he felt as if time was frozen. His blade didn't reach Aizen, in fact, the opposite happened. There was a blade through his chest from behind, but it wasn't Aizen's. Toshiro dropped Hyourinmaru once again, as the unknown blade left his chest. He collapsed to the ground in his own pool of blood, not knowing if he was dead or alive. All he knew was that he was on the ground, strength in him dissolved, and knowing that he had failed. But he was still conscious enough to hear Aizen's voice, and another.

"Good work," Aizen said. "Gin."

And that name, was the one who caused him to see his own death.


	7. Life or Death?

**_7. Life or Death?_**

"What the hell…" Toshiro awoke, aching. He stood up, looking around. He was on an icy platform. It was covered with pure white snow, that had engravings carved into it. The mist around it was light blue, like a mix of wind and winter. Surrounding the round platform were colossal shards of ice, towering the area like guardians. It was what it looked like. The Ice heaven. Toshiro knew that he wasn't really here; he was probably just in a dream, remembering that his body was just recently slaughtered by Gin Ichimaru.

"Hello?" He wondered if someone was supposed to speak to him. He looked around the heaven, noticing the carvings in the ground. There were three circles around one main one. Each circle had a line connecting it to the others, along with a picture of some sort in within the ring. One had a picture of a crescent moon, another had a snowflake, and the third had a simple shape of a dragon. The one in the center, he did not recognize as well. It looked like a crystal, he walked closer to it. Toshiro bent down laying his hand onto the carving, it glowed blue as soon as his skin met the engraving. All of the signs on the ground glowed bright as the whole place started shaking. He clutched his chest, feeling the same pain as before.

His body released an immense spiritual pressure. He felt as if his heart was cracking, freezing, as so it was. It transformed, as his body strengthened. His heart replaced by a crystal, one made of ice, making him feel more alive. He awoke for real, but was different. He stood up forgetting about the wound on his stomach. Gin and Aizen turned around, wondrously, but by the time he realized who it was, Toshiro had already taken his life. He charged at Gin the same way, causing Ichimaru to open his eyes for the very first time. There were violet, yet trembling with fear.

Just like that, they were both on the ground, blood surrounding them, with Toshiro standing calmly with his blade in hand, dripping with their blood.

He had just killed the Soul Society's two strongest foes.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo yelled out to him, running towards him along with the others. As they realized what he had just done, they had an expression with excitement, yet fear of Toshiro. Toshiro dropped Hyourinmaru, as he fell to his knees, into Rangiku's arms that caught him. He hugged him tightly as she wept; finally knowing that he was alright.

But He wasn't. He blacked out again, realizing that what he had just done, he had no control of whatsoever. The crystal changed him, made him stronger, but petrifying. The group stared down at the gory corpses on the ground with eyes of fear. They sighed as they went back to the shop, waiting for Toshiro to wake to tell them what all happened. But Toshiro didn't know either.

It seemed as if a monster took his place and killed Aizen with hatred, but yet did he knew, that this was just one step of his quest to true power. And true love.


End file.
